Hidden
by Ryn-Tak
Summary: Naruto has secrets and know more than he should. Sasuke wants to find out what Naruto's hiding. Will Sasuke still leave when he knows? FemNaru SasuNaru mild Sakura bashing. M for language. /Warning: crazed rabbits running rampant throughout the story/
1. Chapter 1

Hidden

Chapter 1

Musings

Kyuubi(1) was laughing at her again. It came as no surprise; he was usually either laughing at her or growling at the world. Although, lately, he had been offering useful advice when in the mood.

She wondered if that meant that he was mellowing out in his old age.

She got a rather condescending snort and low mumbles of ripping and tearing impudent fleshbags for an answer.

Sadly, she had given him plenty reason to laugh at her, this time.

When she'd been notified of Sasuke's defection, she'd figured that with the rest of the retrieval team coming, she could get to Sasuke with more than enough chakra left to beat him to a bloody pulp and drag him back to Konoha if necessary.

… Oh, how wrong she'd been.

Forgetting to take into account certain _drainages_ on her chakra had been the first mistake. Not realizing that there might be multiple enemies _helping_ Sasuke leave had been the second. The fact that said enemies were high-Chuunin(2) to mid-Jounin(3) level just added to that one. Not thinking about how far away from Konoha Sasuke might get was the third. She had been surprised to find that she had run and fought all the way to the border between Fire and Rice Country. Of course, there were other problems as well; they just didn't stand out as much as the mistakes. Let's see… her friends that came on this mission with her were _all_ left behind and most likely injured, she had spent most of what was left of her chakra reserves fighting Kaguya Kimimaro before Rock Lee showed up, her wounds from _all_ the previous fights, while healed, were sore and making it harder than it should've been to move, and at this point she was unsure of whether or not she actually _could_ fight Sasuke, especially since the Sound-nin had _done something_ to Sasuke's chakra. Oh! And let's not forget that _constant_ drain on her chakra. Really, it didn't take much, but right now, any at all was more than she could afford. However, if she has to fight Sasuke to get his stubborn-ass bastard self back to the village, then that's _exactly_ what she's going to do. After all, she had a promise to keep and keep it she would or her name's not **Uzumaki Naruto**!

Actually, her name's _not _Uzumaki Naruto, but nobody knows that. Nobody knows that she's a girl either…

But that's not the point! The point is that she WILL get Sasuke back… whether he wants it or not.

(AN)

OOoohhh cliffy... yeah, sorry about that. I'm almost done with the second chapter though, so I'll be posting that soon.

The deadline for the votes on Return of the Lost with be May 19, to let you all know. So far, Sasuke starts out alive and is killed during the story, as to why or how... that hasn't been decided yet.

Hmmm... let's see, this story is for the amusement of my sister and the appeasement of my muse, so if you find most of this story childish, well now you have a reason. However, I will be the one reading this to my sister so I have free reign to write what I want for the most part, so I'll try to keep it from getting too silly. Just know that I can't stand letting a serious scene go by without having (and sometimes giving into) the urge to release my cageful of crazed rabbits!

Anywho, i hope you enjoy.

Read and review please!

[EDIT]

I've corrected a couple of spelling and story (aka. I found a map) errors and have tacked on a translation guide for this chapter.

'Naruto' will be used until her real name is revealed.

**Translations:**

**(1) Kyuubi - Nine tails (9 tailed kitsune demon that attacked Konohagakure no Sato and was sealed into 'Naruto'.**

**(2) Chuunin - mid-level ninja ranked higher than Genin and lower than Jounin**

**(3) Jounin - high-level ninja ranked higher than Chuunin and lower than Tokubetsu {special} Jounin **

ps. I know in the official rankings have Jounin higher than Tokubetsu Jounin, but this is my AU and I want it the other way around.

pps. Sasuke is going to be more of an arrogant prick than an emo prick in this. I don't think I could write him as an emo prick without overdoing it or making it extremely... cliched? or whatever.**  
**


	2. Chapter 2

Hidden

Chapter 2

Aftermath and removal

"Well… shit," she thought. One Rasengan(1) and she was down for the count… lovely.

She was kneeling at the base of the waterfall running between the statues of Konoha's founders; The Shodai(2) Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and his best friend, Uchiha Madara.

Sasuke was on one of Madara's toes in front of her, frowning at her trembling and exhausted form. She was panting on the ground with sweat dripping from her face and down her back, under that ridiculous orange jumpsuit. Short, spiky, blond hair shaded beautiful cerulean eyes that had been dulled by weariness. Tan skin was marred and enhanced by three whisker-like scars on each cheek. Blue ninja sandals were covered in what mud and blood hadn't been washed off by her earlier abrupt plunge in the river. Her weapons pouch and shuriken holster were empty. She wavered red for a moment before falling so that she was supported by both hands and knees instead of one of each.

She was defeated.

Sasuke's frown turned into a scowl. 'He' had seemed more energetic before, especially when 'he' had used that strange red chakra… He frowned once more as he remembered the widened eyes and panicked movements that came and went with that chakra. He knew that his dobe(3) wasn't this weak. Throwing and dodging shuriken, slashing with, throwing and _failing_ to dodge kunai, and using _one_ Rasengan should **not** have been the extent of their fight. Sasuke wanted to know WHY his dobe couldn't give him a decent fight before he left Konoha for good, so he decided to find out.

A smirk spreading over his face, Sasuke jumped off his perch and moved to crouch in front of his dobe. He let his voice become condescending and his tone drip with arrogance, "Why so weak, dobe?" He felt a thrill of satisfaction shoot through him when he saw 'Naruto's' head come up, eyes flashing with anger, growling deep in 'his' chest.

'He' finally snorted, sat back with 'his' legs crossed in front of 'him', and looked away grumbling, "You'd be tired, too, if you had a seal constantly leeching chakra…" 'He' stiffened, eyes widening and glancing at Sasuke when 'he' realized what 'he' had said. Sasuke's eyes narrowed and his lips thinned, giving him a hard look.

'Naruto' watched him warily, eying him like one would a rabid polar bear or a crazed rabbit, wanting to be cautious even when 'he' knew 'he' couldn't do anything about whatever Sasuke would decide to do.

Sasuke finally spoke, "Hn. What's the seal for? And why haven't you removed it yourself?" She finally quit eying him like he was a crazed rabbit and just looked at him as though he were stupid, which Sasuke found to be very odd, having never experienced being on the receiving end of such a look, especially from his _dobe_ of all people.

When 'he' answered, it was in a flat voice that made Sasuke's eyebrow twitch. "I can't." Those simple words combined with the look on her face and the flat tone conveyed the implication that, once again, Sasuke was stupid, and something akin to disbelief.

He glared at 'Naruto', eyebrow twitching and ground out a question, "What? Are you too weak to remove it? Or perhaps you don't even know how to remove a seal that you know nothing about?" he finished with a sneer.

'Naruto' was growling again. 'His' response surfaced amidst deep rumbles in a clipped tone that was unheard of before from the cheerful dobe and that Sasuke might have found offensive had he not been too busy pondering her reply.

"And you call me a dobe. Who wouldn't find out everything they could about a seal that was put on them without permission? Taking the seal off is impossible for me, not because I'm weak or strong, but because of the design of the seal itself. It's purpose is simple: Take my chakra and use it to hold up a permanent (as long as the seal is there) advanced henge. Taking the seal off is actually very simple, it just can't be taken off by the one affected by it, me. Once it's gone, I will get some of the chakra that it took back, but it won't be much compared to all that I've used today. And don't you dare imply that I'm ignorant when **you** can't even separate truth from the lies told to your by your own family!"

Realizing 'his' slip, 'Naruto' stopped talking, but was too pissed and tired to do anything more than glare at Sasuke's thoughtful expression when it turned toward 'him'.

After 'his' _rant_, Sasuke was quiet and lost in his own thought processes long enough that when he finally spoke again, 'Naruto' was on the verge of passing out. Seeing 'Naruto's' closing eyes and slouching form, Sasuke let loose an amused smirk and in soft, almost silken, tones said, "So, the seal leeches chakra in order to maintain a transformation that hides your true form. What do you really look like then, hmm, dobe?"

'Naruto' remained almost undisturbed in 'his' dozing by Saske's voice and mumbled a reply that _almost_ had Sasuke snorting at how obvious it was, except **Uchihas** do _not_ snort. "Not like this…." He decided to try a different question, "So, if you can't remove the seal, who can?"

'Naruto' woke up completely, and rather fast, at that one, blue eyes piercing Sharingan red in unflinching near-hostility. A deep breath or two later 'he' asked, "Why do you want to know?"

Sasuke gave a smirk with his answer, yet another question. "Can I remove it?" he asked, immensely enjoying the discomfort he was causing his dobe.

'Naruto's' widened eyes and slightly open mouth showed his surprise and brought Sasuke no end of amusement. His smirk was slightly more malicious as he explained, "I still want to fight you and you said that when the seal is removed and this appearance released, you will get some chakra back. Not only that, but I wonder if you might be willing to trade the removal of the seal… for any information you have on my family."

'Naruto' was taken aback at how solemn Sasuke became when he made the offer of a trade.(A) 'He' was still suspicious though and shot Sasuke a hard, searching look (that seemed to have no affect whatsoever, other than making Sasuke smirk once again), trying to see any deception or tricks in the offer. 'He' closed his eyes in thought and when he opened them again 'he' took a deep breath and gave a small nod of agreement and some hesitant words, "Alright. You remove the seal and I'll tell you what I know about the Uchihas… and maybe a few other things that you may want to know, as well."

Sasuke nodded and said, "Fine, but tell me something before I remove it as proof that you're not bluffing."

'Naruto' glared at him for that but gave him a tidbit that 'he' _knew_ Sasuke wouldn't be able to ignore, "Your brother is not the traitor you think he is."

The cold, angry tone got a sharp look and a slightly suspicious stare before a nod was given. Sasuke finally asked the big question that we all want to know the answer to… no, not 'how many bowls of ramen does it take to get Naru-chan full', he asked the one that's been burning in your minds since you found out about the seal, "Where is it and how do I remove it?"

(A/N: I could be a total ass right now and stop here, being my utterly evil self according to my sister of course, but I have plans for the end of this chapter. So, on with the show!)

'Naruto' looked at him for a moment, still hesitant, before finally taking 'his' jacket off and turning his back to Sasuke. When 'Naruto' pulled off his shirt, Sasuke's eyebrows rose at the sight of the lotus shaped, kanji filled, seal on the smooth, tan skin of 'his' lower back.

A nervous clearing of the throat focused Sasuke's eyes back on 'Naruto's' that were watching him from over 'his' shoulder. "I'll do the handseals for most of it. When I nod, you smear some blood on the seal and we'll do the genjutsu(4) release handseal at the same time, okay?" Idly noticing that 'Naruto' had almost stuttered a couple of times, Sasuke nodded his understanding.

Two long minutes of continuous handseals and a nod from 'Naruto' later, both of them made a seal and clearly spoke "Kai" after Sasuke smeared some blood across the seal.

'Naruto' began to shiver as his body seemed to shift. Short, spiky blonde hair fell in untamed and nearly ragged waves, with red highlights, down 'his' back. 'His' body slimmed, pants falling lower on suddenly softly curved hips. 'His' shoes also seemed to be a size too big, now. Abruptly arching 'his' back in pain, 'Naruto' tried unsuccessfully to clamp down on a whimper before it escaped as chakra was returned to 'him'. Once finished, 'Naruto', exhausted, fell back into Sasuke's lap, eyes closed and panting.

Sasuke took the opportunity to take note of other changes to 'Naruto's' appearance. The long blond locks framed 'his' face as they fell to 'his' shoulders. 'His' nose was a bit smaller and 'his' jawline and whisker marks were more delicate, emphasizing high cheekbones, soft, full lips, and long lashes. Sasuke's gaze wandered lower to a graceful neck and a couple of things above a flat stomach that made his eyes widen, jaw drop, and a blush grace his cheeks. He looked away and grabbed 'Naruto's' jacket, using it to cover 'him' up with slightly shaky hands. Staring determinedly at the river, Sasuke listened as 'Naruto' woke up, having gotten 'him' off his lap when he put the jacket over 'him'. When 'he' was finally awake, Sasuke, still blushing, asked what had been on his mind since he saw below 'Naruto's' neck, "Why didn't you bother to tell me that you are a **GIRL?**"

(A/N: okay. NOW I'm done. The whole thing with the 'him', 'his', 'he' and 'Naruto' and all that was done on purpose just to let you know.(i prolly messed up alot with it though) Okay, I have a basic outline of whats going to happen up to a certain point, I just need to work out the details.

Anywho, I hope you enjoyed.

Read and review please!

[EDIT]

{I will probably be opening the poll for Return of the Lost again when/if I take it off hiatus.}

(A) I realize a lot of you are questioning Sasuke's reaction to 'Naruto' having information on the Uchiha clan. Thing is, he doesn't know for sure that 'Naruto' really knows something or not and is wanting to find out if it's legit as well as getting his fight. And of course, if he did have any sort of emotional reaction, it would have been well hidden, _because Uchiha are not emotional._ Bah. Sasuke's reaction, or lack thereof, is meant more to get a rise out of 'Naruto' than anything else.

**Translations:**

**(1) Rasengan - Spiral Ball/Sphere (A-Rank attack jutsu, spinning chakra contained in a sphere shape, drills into the target)**

**(2) Shodai - First Lord/First Great (Hokage)**

**(3) dobe - deadlast (Sasuke's nickname for 'Naruto'**

**(4) genjutsu - illusion technique**

ps. The AN and preview that was Chapter 3 will be placed as a story of it's own on my profile. It's called Plotbunny Corner.**  
**


	3. Chapter 3

Hidden

Chapter 3

A Mission and a Gift of Rememberance

A day after their return Sasuke and Natsumi could be found in a shared hospital room; Sasuke watching Natsumi talk to Tsunade while reclining in her bed from his own position sitting cross-legged on his nearby bed.

When Natsumi finally stopped for breath, Tsunade looked at Sasuke and considered. As Kakashi had brought them back before daybreak, only he, Tsunade and the ANBU guarding the room knew that they were back. If Natsumi was right and Sasuke was trustworthy, this plan of Natsumi's could rid Konoha of one of its worst missing-nin and the Elemental Nations of a sick criminal. Jiraiya wanted to train Natsumi out of the village anyway, so he could keep an eye and an eye on the Uchiha. She turned toward the boy.

He was different than she had last seen him and most of what she had been told of him. He sat quietly watching Natsumi with the occasional glance at herself. She wondered to herself if this brat could really pull it off. Could he infiltrate Orochimaru's Sound Village, pass on the necessary information and keep from being found out all the while growing stronger so that he could kill the snake once he had no more to teach?

The boy was watching her now and she was curious about his calm raising of a brow in response to her smirk when all reports said he should be bristling in suspicion. She quelled her curiosity and asked in a slightly superior tone,

"Well, Uchiha, can you do it? Can you pretend to be one of his pawns while retaining your sanity and loyalty to the Leaf?" He answered with a smirk and a question of his own, "Who said my loyalty was to the Leaf?" Tsunade had a feeling she knew where this was going, after all, she had experienced that feeling and _still_ felt that way. A mischievous grin worked its way onto her lips as she replied, "Oh? Then, where does your loyalty lie?"

On anyone else, Sasuke's smirk would be a grin, albeit a rather evil grin, but a grin nonetheless (but Uchihas do NOT grin), as he spoke the name that would have the council screaming in outrage, "Natsumi."

Both he and Tsunade turned to look at said girl. She was staring at them, dumbstruck. Tsunade let loose a grin of unholy delight and responded to Sasuke's declaration, "Oh, well, that's alright then. She's my successor." Tsunade reveled in the shocked looks she was receiving from the two 13 year olds, before giving in and speaking to Natsumi, who was doing a fair impression of a goldfish, "What, you thought that necklace I gave you was ONLY a cursed, Senju family heirloom? It's a symbol of the Hokage, whether it is my grandfather, granduncle, I, or my successor: namely, YOU."

Sasuke couldn't take it anymore and chuckled at the blown-away look on Natsumi's face. After a moment, though, realizing that _someone_ in the room had to be the voice of reason, he spoke, "You know, if this is going to work, I will have to leave before dawn." Tsunade sighed as Natsumi looked down. The Sannin-turned-Hokage groaned as she realized something herself, "I'm going to need you to do some paperwork before you leave." She sighed again and left the room muttering something about sake.

Sasuke pondered the idea of paperwork and all its usefulness before turning to Natsumi and speaking, "We haven't really been able to talk much since Kakashi showed up, have we?" Natsumi looked at him when he started talking and when he stopped; she blinked and shook her head a little. Sasuke wondered how many questions she would answer before she snapped out of her stupor. 'Time to find out,' he thought.

"What's your favorite color Natsumi?" "Red." 'Yup, still in a stupor.' "What's your favorite food?" "Any kind of seafood, especially shrimp." After a blink in her direction, Sasuke looked closer. 'Well, she's still zoned out, but the drool is new…,' he thought humorously. "Where's your favorite place in the village?" "On top of the Yondaime's head, on the Hokage monument."

"Why the Yondaime's?" "When I was little, he was my idol, and when I found out he was my dad, I was so mad at him. He put the Kyuubi in me. How could he have condemned his own kid to that? I kept wondering why, why, WHY would he do that to me! I finally asked Sandaime-jiji. He asked me this, "If you were in that situation, could you have asked a family to give up their child if you weren't willing to give up your own?" It took me a while to realize that I would have done what my father had done. When I told Jiji, he said that the Yondaime also said that he had faith that I would be strong enough for this responsibility. It makes me kind of proud of him… still, the first thing I'm gonna do when I see him in death is punch 'em!" Her last words were accompanied by a nod and her left fist meeting her right palm.

Sasuke noticed that her eyes were still glazed over and sweat-dropped. 'All that and she's _still_ shocked about being the Hokage's successor? Kami help me, but it's cute on her. Ok, more questions!' "Hey, Natsumi, why do you wear that orange jumpsuit?" "It's part of my mask. If people think that Konoha's Demon is an idiot in orange, then they'll think me less of a threat." At this point Natsumi regained her senses and her eyes sparkled with suppressed humor. "That, and it's good stealth training."

Sasuke's curiosity was peaked, "How so?" "You may not have noticed, but after my third year wearing the orange monstrosity, the ONLY people capable of capturing me after a prank were Hokage-jiji and Iruka-sensei." Silence bloomed as it dawned on Sasuke _just _what Natsumi was implying. "That's right Sasuke, not even the ANBU can catch me if I don't want to be caught."

Natsumi's smug tone and the way her eyes kept drifting to the window throughout he little speech made him think that perhaps she was aware of someone listening in. This theory was confirmed a moment later when a female ANBU with purple hair, in a neko mask perched on the windowsill. Natsumi smirked an Uchiha-worthy smirk. "Hello Kitty-nee-chan, was there something you wanted?"

The sickly sweet tone Natsumi used was making Sasuke's instincts scream not to draw attention to himself; getting between the two females would NOT end well for him.

The neko masked ANBU twitched at Natsumi's name for her before pointing at Natsumi and speaking, "On behalf of the ANBU, I accept your challenge. In three days, you will test our security once more."

Natsumi grinned in a feral way. Sasuke wanted to run away, the tension from the ANBU and the excitement from the blonde kunoichi were running so high.

"The target?" Natsumi asked. The ANBU thought a moment before answering, "Three scrolls, each in a different location. _If_ you beat our security, you may keep them and their contents. However, if you are caught, whenever you are in Konoha, for the next five years, you will perform NO major pranks."

Natsumi didn't look worried as she nodded her agreement, wild grin still on her lips.

"Stay here, I will inform the Commander." Natsumi waved as the neko ANBU left.

Sasuke sagged with relief as the tension in the room dissipated and asked, "What the hell was that all about!" Natsumi grinned sheepishly at Sasuke before moving to sit next him on his bed. Speaking more quietly, she said, "The ANBU corps and I have a standing rivalry of sorts. I have redecorated their HQ four times and challenges, like this one, three times and I haven't been caught yet. The ANBU also looked out for me when I was little. Kitty-nee-chan in particular was assigned to guard me by Hokage-jiji. When Kakashi-sensei was in ANBU, he also looked out for me when he could. He had an inu mask, so I called him Puppy-nii-chan… I don't think that he liked it much, but I can remember others laughing whenever I called him that. He kept trying to get me to call him Inu-nii-chan or Inu-nii-sama or something like that, but at that point all the Inuzuka dogs were scared of me and growled whenever I was near. He was nice like the few puppies that I'd seen on the streets, so he was Puppy-nii-chan," she ended with a giggle.

Sasuke shook his head, "I really shouldn't be so surprised. You are, after all, Konoha's number one, most surprising, knuckle-head ninja; a fact that you've proved many times." Sasuke chuckled to himself while Natsumi looked away, biting her lip. He noticed and asked, "Natsumi? Is something wrong?"

She didn't look at him as she answered, "You're going to be in a lot of danger with this mission and we aren't going to be able to meet up very often and when we do, if there are other there, we will have to fight and I don't want to fight you. Not that sparring with you isn't fun, 'cuz it is! I just don't want to get into a serious fight with you" (Again went unspoken) "and what if you get hurt? You're one of my only friends, my BEST friend! I won't be able to handle things if you get hurt and, and, and…!"

Midway through her tirade, Sasuke had pulled Natsumi into a hug. By the time she had broken off, she was sobbing into Sasuke's chest; clinging to him as though he were her last connection to reality. He hugged her as close as he dared, being careful of both their several, although minor, wounds (mostly his own, hers were healing quickly). He murmured reassurances that he would be okay and that, if they fought, they could treat it like a spar, into her hair.

Once she could speak coherently again, Sasuke pulled Natsumi up to face him. Using his thumbs to wipe away her tears, Sasuke leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to both cheeks and her forehead before lightly brushing his lips against hers. When he rested his forehead on hers, she opened her eyes and he spoke, "I will be fine. I promise to take care of myself and I will make sure to send you messages whenever I can, okay?" She nodded, a blush staining her cheeks.

"Though, it's _me _that should be worried about _you_ in all of this. You're going to leave the safety of the village to travel with a known pervert. True, you'll be on the road and harder to find, but you'll also be exposed to a perverted old man who probably spies on women whenever he gets the chance and won't train you without incentive!" Sasuke spoke the last of his rant in an angry growl.

Natsumi giggled a little and leaned her head against his shoulder, yawning, "Thank you, for making me feel better." "Hn," was his response. Well, that and a _very_ small smile that he hid in her hair.

They were quiet for a moment, simply enjoying the feel of being together with someone who understood. Natsumi broke the comfortable silence, "Sasuke?" "Hn, what is it, Natsumi?" "…You're cute when you worry." Her statement was met with a groan from Sasuke as he flopped onto his back. Natsumi gave a sleepy smile, crawled up next to him and curled up at his side. Sasuke sighed, put his arms around her and buried his face in her hair once more. 'I can afford a nap and Natsumi really needs some sleep,' passed through his mind as Natsumi snuggled into his chest, cheek resting on his collarbone.

Tsunade came upon them like this an hour later when she came to get Sasuke's paperwork done. When she touched Sasuke's shoulder, he opened bleary eyes, she held up the paperwork so he could see, and he took back every good thought he had about paperwork. A sigh, five minutes of careful repositioning, and some interesting uses for ninja skills later and he was sitting with his legs hanging over the side of the bed signing papers with Natsumi curled around a pillow behind him.

As he signed the last paper and gave it to Tsunade, he heard Natsumi whimper in her sleep. Sparing her a worried glance, he wondered whether to wake her to say good-bye or not. Tsunade spoke softly, "Wake her up or don't, but be quick. I'll wait outside." With that, Tsunade walked out, leaving Sasuke to think.

'Natsumi is tired and I don't want to wake her, but I don't want her to think that I didn't want to say bye, either.'

Indecisively, he stroked Natsumi's hair and looked around in hopes of inspiration. When he noticed that only one of his arm-warmers had gotten dirty-ripped to shreds-, he was surprised by an idea. Pulling off his clean-in one piece- arm-warmer, Sasuke put it on Natsumi's left arm.

'There, now she'll have at least a sort of good-bye.' Satisfied, he kissed her palm before walking out the door and into what would be the hardest mission of his life.

AN: right. Next chappy will prolly be either filler, or after the 4 yr time-skip.

Yes, I realize that in the manga/anime it was only 2 ½ yrs (it was also mentioned that it was supposed to be 3 yrs). You don't like it, flame me… I'm in the mood for s'mores anyway.

FYI- as we go on Sasuke and Natsumi _will_ be getting more intimate with each other. I don't know if I am up to writing a lemon though, so if I'm not, the best you'll get from me is so heavy petting, steamy (hopefully) make-out sessions and your own imagination.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go get the mail… and maybe my little sister… mostly the mail. (Damn the mail-box for being a ¼ mile away… NO, damn the DRIVEWAY for being that long!)

R&R

Ryn

Ps. A lot of things are going to be explained in flashbacks, so if you're confused, don't worry, I'm prolly gonna explain in a flashback. (If I'm not I'll let you know in an AN)

Pps. Next chapter should be out in a couple of weeks. I will be putting Return of the Lost on indefinite hiatus due to lack of inspiration (and motivation).

[EDIT]

I've got some of the explaining flashbacks worked out, I'm just working on transition scenes right now. When I'm done with those I should be able to get the next chapter up.

I finally got some stuff up on DeviantArt, so go visit me there if you want. Everything there has either been written or drawn by me, though some of my drawings are put in 'Scraps' by accident [i'll have to fix that later...].

\/ Look \/

\/ Down \/

Whoever can guess the first two of the Rookie 9 to find out that Natsumi's a girl gets to help me with a prank on the ANBU HQ. You have until I post chapter 5, to guess. [Chapter 4 will be that irritating explanation flashback... urgh!]


	4. Chapter 4

It had been three days since Sasuke left. It had been three days since Natsumi had to wear a henge no jutsu(1) whenever she left her apartment. It had been three days since Natsumi started to unintentionally let her mask slip a bit.

She thought that once the seal was gone, it would be even easier to keep up her mask. Boy, was she wrong. It seemed that letting her mask down around Sasuke had just made it harder to keep up around the rest of her friends. At first it was just a word here and there that 'village-idiot-Naruto' shouldn't have known. Then came the occasional twitch and quickly hidden facial expression that revealed her true feelings in a situation. Now she was making gestures and moving in ways that 'clumsy-prankster-Naruto' was _not_ supposed to be able to move. Natsumi figured that Shikamaru, Shino, Hinata, and Neji suspected that something was up. Shikamaru was probably the only one that had any real idea of what was going on, and even then she was sure, he didn't know everything.

It probably didn't help her mask any, when she knocked out that idiot who had been calling Sasuke a traitor. Even less for punching Kiba, who had witnessed the scene, when he implied 'Naruto' felt something for 'his' male teammate.

Sakura hadn't noticed anything due to having her own set of distractions. While 'Naruto' had been in the hospital, Sakura had acted almost _nice_ toward 'him.' Once 'he' was out, however, she was back to her bitchy self. At least, until she had disappeared yesterday evening.

This morning, Natsumi had found a note left on her front door, after being woken up at 3 a.m. by knocking. Sakura had used the note to apologize and let 'Naruto' know that she would be getting stronger now, so that she could help in fights instead of sitting on the sidelines, hoping for a good outcome and being weak. Natsumi gave the note a smile and went back to bed. She was expecting Kakashi later and had spent most of the night setting up a sort of security system for when she left the village. It would, hopefully, make sure no one took anything that she decided to leave here while she was on her trip with Ero-Sennin(2).

Four hours later (7 a.m.), Natsumi was once again woken up by knocking. Groaning, she created a 'Naruto' kage bunshin no jutsu(3) to deal with it and rolled over.

The bunshin(4), dressed in blue boxers and a white tank top, opened the door to find Shikamaru and Kiba, blinked sleepily, headed toward the living room, leaving the door open in invitation (sort of), and collapsed on the couch. Shikamaru muttered, "Troublesome…" which earned a dust rag thrown vaguely in his direction from the occupied couch. Kiba snickered as he closed the door and watched the rag miss and go flying into the bedroom. From said room, came a muffled grunt of annoyance that caught Shikamaru and Kiba's attention.

Kiba grinned wildly, "Man, Naruto! I didn't think you were the kind that would keep quiet about a girlfriend. When were you gonna tell your best bud! HUH?" Kiba asked this while poking 'Naruto' who just stared up at him blankly, "Dude. I'm a kage bunshin. Boss is asleep in the bedroom. I don't have a girlfriend and if I did I wouldn't tell you." This statement caused Kiba to feel very dumb before he sank to the floor, drowning in crocodile tears.

The bunshin and Shikamaru watched for a minute or two before the bunshin spoke, "Why are you guys here Shika?" "It's a drag, but Ino got the girls together and planned a picnic for the Rookie 9 and Team Gai. She also invited some the Chunnin and all our Jounin-sensei(s?). She ordered me and dog-breath down there -" "HEY!" "- to make sure you showed when she heard that you would be leaving on a training trip soon." The bunshin thought over the time that was left and the things that needed to be done before leaving, Shikamaru waited, and Kiba pouted over being ignored.

Just as the bunshin opened his mouth, a blaring noise sounded though-out the apartment. They turned to see Kiba trying to open a window and paled. 'Naruto' yanked Kiba away from the window and told him and Shikamaru, "Push the couch against the wall and toss the floor rug on it. The Boss will fix it after that." He then went 'poof.'

Shikamaru and Kiba did as they were told, revealing a large complex seal with a large empty circle in the middle and a smaller empty circle to one side. They stared in shock, though Shikamaru's was mixed with contemplation.

They heard a bang, followed by a loud, "KUSO(5)," and a sharp crack from the bedroom. Just after the crack was an eerie silence, it was made worse when the walls began glowing red with seals. A red-streaked blonde girl in the clothes 'Naruto's' bunshin had been wearing came out of the bedroom and glared at the two gaping boys (Shikamaru wasn't quite as shocked as Kiba, but still shocked) before snapping out orders, "Put your hands in the center circle and start feeding the seal chakra. Stop when it glows yellow. If you don't, you'll end up outside the building, naked, and restrained painfully." They paled and once again did as told. The girl bit her thumb and wrote the kanji for 'add' in blood in the smaller circle, while feeding her own chakra into the big one.

Immediately, the glowing seals vanished. She sat back, crossed her arms and _glared_ at the two boys. The both gulped nervously (even Shikamaru) in response. The girl huffed and went back to the bedroom. Kiba, giving into his loudmouth and rash tendencies, jumped up and started yelling while heading toward the bedroom door, "Naruto! What the Hell, man? You said you didn't have a girlfriend and then she comes out of no…where…!"

Shikamaru, who had stayed sitting in order to try to figure out what just happened, looked up when Kiba's voice faded away and saw him drooling at whatever was in the bedroom. Kiba didn't know it, but this action basically signed his death warrant.

In the bedroom was Natsumi, with only panties and the bandages zigzagging her torso as cover for her body. When she saw him drooling at her, she decided that the best way to be rid of him would be to throw nearby sharp things at him.

Poor, poor Kiba. Natsumi had her weapon pouch and shuriken holster with her and soon a hail or kunai, razor wire tied to kunai, shuriken, senbon, daggers, hunting knives, and a wakizashi were flying toward Kiba with the intent to maim. Shikamaru watched as Kiba threw himself out of the way, the weapons impaled themselves in the wall and floor where Kiba had been standing, and the door to the bedroom closed.

A few moments of patience from Shikamaru and shock from Kiba later and the door opened once more to reveal the girl from before, this time wearing a black t-shirt and Naruto's orange pants. Shikamaru watched her while she put Naruto's orange and blue jacket on the couch after cleaning out all the pockets before sighing out 'Troublesome,' standing and walking toward the door while speaking, "Put on your henge Naru_-chan_ and come on so you can tell us what just happened." Then he walked out the door, leaving Kiba and Natsumi to stare after him.

Natsumi gaped, "How does he _do_ that!" When she shook it off and put on her henge, Kiba switched the target of his staring from the door to 'Naruto.' Ignoring his expression, Natsumi grabbed Kiba and drug him out the door after Shikamaru.

x-x-x-x-x-x-(1 explanation later)-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Natsumi, in her 'Naruto' henge, walked between Shikamaru and Kiba to Ino's picnic, relieved that they hadn't rejected her once they knew of Kyuubi and her being female (though she was afraid that they might change their minds later, after they'd had time to think about it). Kiba now understood some things, like why she smelled of fox and her regular scent of rain and grass, and lead him to becoming curious about other things. This meant that he started asking questions.

"Naru-chan, are you going to tell the others about your fuzzball and the seal?"

They had started calling her Naru-chan once she told Kiba and Shikamaru that her name was Natsumi. They said it was so they wouldn't get mixed up. She thought it was mostly to annoy her.

"I was going to tell Hinata before I left, but she was the only one."

Shikamaru looked at her sharply and Kiba exclaimed, "What! Why?" Natsumi sighed. "I tend to avoid rejection by my friends whenever I can. The reaction of the villagers to my fuzzball doesn't inspire much faith." This statement caused Natsumi to shrink upon herself, wrapping her arms about her waist, and Shikamaru's eyes to soften a bit while he mentally cursed the villagers for doing so much damage to his friend.

Kiba took a deep breath, surreptitiously taking in Natsumi's scent. When he smelled the fear and sadness there he growled lightly, grabbing the other's attention, gently took hold of Natsumi's arm and began to pull her after him in a slightly different direction. Natsumi exchanged a confused look with Shikamaru, who had followed when Kiba changed direction, and hesitantly asked, "Um, Kiba? Where are we going?" Kiba sniffed and growled again, her sadness had been replaced by confusion, but she was a little more scared than before.

He restrained himself from snarling his answer and scaring her even more, "My mom told me when I entered the academy that the friends I made would be pack; family. All my life I've been taught that pack took care of each other and watched each other's back. After all the trouble we've gotten into, the fun we've had together and the fights we've been in, I figure that makes us friends. That means you're pack and I'll be damned if one of **my** pack is hurt by a bunch of stupid civvies(6)!" Shikamaru realized what Kiba wanted to do and smirked. Natsumi's eyes were wide and she was still confused. When she saw that Shikamaru knew what was going on and that he approved, she found that she wasn't as scared of what might happen, but she was still apprehensive.

A/N

Translations:

(1) henge no jutsu – technique of illusion (unsure about the illusion bit) causes user to look like someone or something else.

(2) Ero-Sennin – perverted sage

(3) kage bunshin no jutsu – technique of shadow clone

(4) bunshin - clone

(5) kuso - shit

(6) civvies – military slang for civilians (I'm not sure exactly _which_ military though)

I felt like being anal with the translations… did it work?

Any-ole-who, this chapter was going to be longer but I still have to work out some personality quirks in certain characters and actually get the next scene written.

OH! And just to let people share in my happiness (drip, drip, drip, [it's sarcasm] drip) my big brother is getting married and I'm going to be an aunt! Awesome-sauce ain't it.

Don't know when the next update is gonna be out. This one is mostly unedited so you're lucky to get it. no one said for certain (their final answer) that KIBA was the second of the rookie 9, konoha 12, etc. so nobody gets a pic. however, as i said before, i am gonna make a pic as thanks to all who guessed, just don't expect it to be up anytime soon. what with the wedding being in chicago and classes starting soon after that... I'm gonna be busy.

Ciao

ryn

ps. so far i've had a total of 25 reviews for this story. THANKS EVERYONE!


	5. Chapter 5

Flashback – Sasuke gets answers and Kakashi faints…

"_Why didn't you tell me you are a girl?!"_

'Naruto' looked at him incredulously, if not still somewhat dazedly, and asked in return, "Would you have believed me?" Taking his scowl for a 'no', (correctly) she slipped the now, even more, too big jacket on and zipped it up before motioning him to sit in front of her as she leaned up against a nearby boulder.

Not letting him open his mouth for yet another idiotic question, 'Naruto' cut Sasuke's thoughts off and began what was promising to be a very long and drawn-out explanation, "My name is Natsumi and I'll start with your family and answer questions about myself after I'm done with that. I meant what I said earlier. Your brother, Itachi, isn't a traitor. He killed his clan while under orders from the council, who had ordered their deaths while the Sandaime(1) was still looking for a peaceful solution.

You see, the Uchiha Clan was very unhappy and they had every reason to be. When Uchiha Madara betrayed Konoha and wounded the Shodaime(2), causing his death, the village became suspicious of all the Uchiha. The Nidaime(3) didn't support the belief that the Uchihas were a risk, but he didn't quash it either. So the belief flourished until it was acted on during the first reign of the Sandaime.

During the Third Great Shinobi War, Sandaime-jiji(4) had other things to worry about, so he granted the council more power, taking some of the workload off of his hands. The council, being corrupt and having the military outnumbered by the civilian side, quickly put their newfound power to use. The Uchihas were isolated to their compound and pushed out of positions of authority within the village, while their best ninja were sent to the front lines on suicide missions. This caused much unrest and discontent among the Uchihas.

Then the war ended and the Yondaime(5) was sworn in. He was fair in his dealings with the Uchiha Clan and they respected him for that and the reputation he had gained for himself. For a little while things got better; the council feared the Hokage too much to outright disobey him and the Uchihas were pleased with how they were being treated (normally being put in charge of the police forces inside the village).

When the Kyuubi attacked and the Yondaime died, everything started going downhill fast. It was known that Madara Uchiha had once controlled the Kyuubi, so most villagers thought that the attack was the fault of the Uchihas and didn't hesitate to make their opinion known. The Uchiha Clan had had enough. They began planning a coup-de-tat.

When your brother was placed in the ANBU, your tou-san(6) let him join the secret meetings that took place in order to plan out and report on the preparations for the coup. Itachi gathered all the information that he could and reported it to the Sandaime. Sandaime-jiji wanted a peaceful resolution, but nothing he tried worked. Somehow, the council found out that Uchiha Shisui, or Shunshin(7) Shisui, had committed suicide, not wanting to be a part of what would have been, simply put, a mass betrayal on the part of the Uchiha Clan.

The council decided to stop things before they went too far. They ordered Itachi to kill his entire clan. Sandaime-jiji convinced them to restrict the death penalty to only those who were involved with the coup. Itachi agreed to take on this mission; but that's when things started going wrong."

Here Natsumi paused for breath, watching Sasuke's expression, which he had managed to keep stoic, but for a few twitches. She sighed and continued her story.

"During the Second Great Shinobi War, Hokage-jiji was a student of the Nidaime. He also had a rival in one Shimura Danzo, who is now a crippled elder on the council. Danzo had views that are completely different than Hokage-jiji's when it comes to just about everything. Most particularly though, are his views on how best to protect Konoha. Danzo is the founder and commander of a branch of ANBU called Ne(8) that was supposed to have been disbanded during Hokage-jiji's first reign. He has kept them active as a sort of personal army that he uses to protect Konoha how he sees fit. Generally, he does this in ways of which the Hokage does not approve.

Hokage-jiji knew what Danzo was doing and even had him take care of some things that he could not afford to sanction. The two operated with the understanding that as long as Danzo never overstepped his bounds too much, Hokage-jiji would allow him to continue Ne and even use them from time to time for 'dirty' jobs. Ne operatives are trained from childhood to be the quintessential Shinobi; strong, emotionless, calculating, merciless, and extremely loyal. The problem is that their loyalty is with Danzo rather than the Hokage or Konoha. The Yondaime kept a tighter leash on Danzo than Sandaime-jiji had. Add this to the fact that what, in Danzo's eyes, was a 'foolish upstart' denied him the position of Hokage once again, and you get that they didn't get along well, at all. Danzo also didn't want the Uchihas to have real power in Konoha. He saw them as a threat to his potential position of Hokage, which was true. Your Clan produced some of the best and most loyal ninja Konoha has ever had."

Natsumi smiled at Sasuke, who, despite his slightly smug look, blushed lightly. Suddenly dizzy, Natsumi wobbles a bit before Sasuke catches her and says, "You need to dry off, eat, and rest." Natsumi, too dizzy to argue, clung to Sasuke's shoulders as he carried her piggy-back into the nearby woods. Once he found a small clearing, Sasuke set Natsumi down in front of a tree and dug through her kunai pouch, finding her storage scroll of camping supplies, he unsealed a green t-shirt, black shorts, and orange boxers. The boxers garnered an amused raising of an eyebrow and an amused smirk in Natsumi's direction. She just blushed and glared at him, though it looked more like a pout than a glare. He also pulled out a sleeping bag and some wire.

Moving efficiently around the campsite, Sasuke had a fire started, a clothesline hung to dry clothes, the sleeping bag nearby with Natsumi's dry clothes on it and the fishing kit out and ready to be used. Sasuke helped a now shivering Natsumi up from her position by the tree and guided her to the dry pile of clothes while keeping a gentle grip on the arm over his shoulders and making sure his hand on her hip didn't wander. Letting her down, Sasuke said," Change into dry clothes while I get some fish. If you are able to, hang up your wet clothes to dry." Then he left the clearing before Natsumi could argue. A dry change of clothes and a dinner of roasted fish later, and it was dusk.

Natsumi continued her history lesson. "Danzo, when he heard about Itachi's mission, jumped at the chance to reduce the Uchiha population by more than a little. He ordered some of his Ne to join the massacre. His instructions had been to kill all the adult males and elder females. Basically, only the young women and the children were supposed to survive. This is the part where something doesn't add up. Itachi followed his orders and Ne followed their orders, both to the letter. The question is, who killed the rest of the Clan? Itachi's report stated that not long after he'd killed your father and your mother had killed herself, thanking Itachi for stopping the coup, you came home.

One of the Ne ANBU had already informed him that a third party had participated in the massacre and he knew that if you knew the truth too early, you'd want to go after them. So he used Tsukiyomi(9) on you to make you think he did it, to make you chase after him so he could keep you alive and hopefully you'd get strong trying to kill him. He was and still is willing to let you kill him in order to keep you safe."

Natsumi's expression was soft as she watched Sasuke try to reconcile all that she had told him with what he knew and remembered from that night. He didn't even notice the tears rolling down his cheeks as he remembered the shine of Itachi's tears on that night. He turned toward Natsumi's tired form on the sleeping bag next to him and whispered, "He was crying. He told me to hate him so that I could kill him one day, and he was crying," Sasuke choked on a sob then, and Natsumi pulled him into a hug, resting his head on her shoulder. For the first time since the night Itachi had left him alone, Sasuke let out his emotions and cried.

Kakashi found them asleep three hours later, Natsumi on her side, arms around Sasuke's neck, fingers in his hair, gently holding his head to her shoulder. Sasuke was practically wrapped around her. His arms were around her waist, holding her to him as though she were the only thing holding him together. Kakashi was shocked. He had expected to find his students nearly dead or at least bickering. He had **NOT **expected to find Sasuke wrapped around Naruto… 'Wait a minute… That's a GIRL! She almost looks like… Natsumi!' he though before keeling over in shock, making a crash that woke Sasuke up and caused the girl to grumble a complaint and hold onto him tighter.

Sasuke looked over at Kakashi to find him out like a light. Then he looked down at Natsumi, blushing when he saw the position that they were in. She didn't look like she was going to wake up or let go anytime soon either. Sasuke shook her shoulder trying to get her to wake up, but she just mumbled something about 'no ramen' and stayed asleep. Unsure what to do, Sasuke looked over at Kakashi's shocked form and smirked.

Leaning down, he whispered in her ear, "Natsumi, if you don't wake up, you'll be later than Kakashi to the team meeting." Natsumi shot up like a rocket off the sleeping bag only to see Kakashi and collapse into giggles on top of Sasuke. Kakashi finally gathered a few of his lost wits and asked, "Eh! Wha… But how did… wha… huh?" This sent Natsumi into another round of giggles and put a smirk on Sasuke's face, despite his expression of exasperation with Natsumi using him as a pillow. He decided to explain somewhat while she attempted to compose herself. "Natsumi has been telling me some things that I should have been told long before now. She still has a few others to explain, like the red chakra, but we got through the truth of the massacre last night."

A/N: Ok, on my profile I told you guys that I would have this up in a week. I'm sorry it's late but my access to the internet has been more sporadic than I first thought it would be. (Read: I don't have internet and was unable to go anywhere with internet.)

Quite a bit of the way Natsumi is wording her explanation (I'm really sorry it's so long, but I wanted to make sure I covered everything and some of it is obviously not canon) may seem out of character for her, but not only did she hide a lot of her personality, she also learned most of this stuff by spending time in the Hokage's office so a lot of the way she words things is closer to a quote or a summary than the she would put it herself.

Yes, the entire chapter is a flashback. To tell the truth, when I wrote the stuff that I have, I wrote it out of order, so when I post it, it is out of order as well. Just to explain, this happens between chapters 2 and 3.

Translations: as always, if something is wrong, please let me know

1 Sandaime – Third Lord (referring to the third Kage of a hidden village)

2 Shodaime – First Lord (referring to the first Kage of a hidden village)

3 Nidaime – Second Lord (referring to the second Kage of a hidden village)

4 jiji – gramps

5 Yondaime – Fourth Lord (referring to the fourth Kage of a hidden village)

6 tou-san – father

7 Shunshin Shisui – Body Flicker (a speed technique, usually accompanied by leaves) Shisui

8 Ne – Root (If you've watched Shippuden, Sai is a member of Ne)

9 Tsukiyomi – moon goddess (an eye technique specific to Mangekyo Sharigan {an evolved form of Sharingan that requires the user to kill their closest friend or feel totally responsible for the death of their closest friend} that puts the target under a genjutsu that tortures them for 72 hours in the space of a moment)


End file.
